Quote:They don't take the whole beak off!! the very tip of the beak can be trimmed off when the chicks are real young. It keeps chicks from picking each other and doing any damage to each other. If done properly, the tip of the beak grows back over time and you can't even tell it was done. I wouldn't debeak my chicks, because I don't have hundreds to deal with, but I can see why it is done.

Quote:You're right, they should use another term. I bought some gold comet pullets, already laying, that had been debeaked. I think it really detracts from their looks, but some of them have since grown their beaks back. And these chickens are bad to pick at each other. They grab and hang on, so maybe that's why they were debeaked as chicks.